So far this week for Facebook: Federal criminal investigation; Warren says should be broken up; Blocked Zerohedge; Longest ever outage;Loses head of product… Mark is losing a lot of money

https://twitter.com/Hipster_Trader/status/1106377564577247233 https://twitter.com/Hipster_Trader/status/1106188316251226114 U.S. PROSECUTORS PROBE FACEBOOK'S DATA-SHARING DEALS: NYT oops — zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 13, 2019 Facebook Chief Product Officer Resigns Along With WhatsApp Head Facebook stock fell in after-hours trading Thursday, follow an announcement that two executives were leaving the company. In a post on Facebook, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company’s Chief … Read more

Something big coming – Volatility could spike from here

https://twitter.com/Simple_Trends/status/1106253534058762243 $VX_F $TVIX Close the gap at 12.90 $VX_F & back to the highs? can we explain the vol. suppression with a gap? 🧐@b_seagle @hks55 pic.twitter.com/Ueegi8SJ9l — Alessio (@AlessioTMAD) March 14, 2019 Fit this $VIX chart too. h/t @TaviCosta pic.twitter.com/jpUByQR9F2 — mcm-ct.com (@mcm_ct) March 14, 2019 SPX500 cash continues to ignore JPM Global PMI plunge … Read more

EU Monetary & Economic Failures

Authored by Alasdair Macleod via GoldMoney.com, The monetary, financial and political weaknesses of the EU are about to be exposed by the forthcoming global credit crisis. This article assumes the combination of end of credit cycle dynamics and the rise in trade protectionism in 1929 is a valid precedent for gauging the scale of a … Read more

Which Countries Are Set to Attract the Highest Skilled Workers from Abroad?

via visualcapitalist: For the world’s most innovative companies, the stated goal of attracting top talent is not simply an HR mantra – it’s a matter of survival. Whether we’re talking about a giant like Google that is constantly searching to add world-class engineers or we’re talking about a startup that needs a visionary to shape products … Read more

Free Fannie? Free Freddie? Those Are the $200 Billion Mortgage-Backer Questions

by confoundedinterest The Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie were placed into conservatorship with their regulator back in 2008 after housing prices declined and mortgage defaults spiked. But since the catastrophic year of 2008,  Fannie Mae (as an example) generated substantial net revenue after 2008. [This brings into question the wisdom of placing Fannie … Read more

Longtime Stock Market Bull Richard Bernstein: It’s Like March 2000 All Over Again

via MarketWatch: Bubble?   Plenty of pundits have compared the trading action in today’s market to the bursting of the dot-com bubble, but the latest Wall Street type to make that connection isn’t your typical broken-clock bear. Here’s what longtime bull and Institutional Investor hall of famer Richard Bernstein had to say on CNBC this week … Read more

FITTON:WORKING: While Congress dithers, Judicial Watch puts Clinton email witness under oath in NY.

by TFittonJW Our team of attorneys finished deposing Clinton email witness Justin Cooper, the former Clinton Foundation official who set up the Clinton email system for Mrs. Clinton. Judicial Watch has at least 10 more witnesses to question: https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/federal-court-orders-discovery-on-clinton-email-benghazi-scandal-top-obama-clinton-officials-susan-rice-and-ben-rhodes-to-respond-to-judicial-watch-questions-under-oath/ (Washington, DC) — Judicial Watch announced today that United States District Judge Royce C. Lamberth ruled that discovery can begin … Read more

US Residential Construction Spending Sees 6th Straight Month of Decline

by confoundedinterest Today is a double whammy for bad news for the US economy. First, The Census Bureau monthly construction spending report reveals that highway and street spending rose 11.7% in January. The biggest decline was communication spending. BUT, US residential construction spending slumped for the 6th straight month. It is beginning to resemble “The Matterhorn” plunge of … Read more

Not Bullish: Equity vol and cdx na ig starting to turn up, no pickup in China’s credit creation YoY, consumer hitting a wall…

equity vol and cdx na ig starting to turn up pic.twitter.com/VsblsGDhaT — Alastair (@StockBoardAsset) March 14, 2019 There has been no pickup in China's credit creation YoY. This leads the economic data by 9-12 months. $FXI pic.twitter.com/RgBAQQgTb2 — Teddy Vallee (@TeddyVallee) March 14, 2019 consumer hitting a wall https://t.co/oYeYTwOpnB — Alastair (@StockBoardAsset) March 14, 2019 … Read more

California jury orders Johnson & Johnson to pay $29 million in latest talcum cancer trial

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/14/jury-orders-johnson–johnson-to-pay-29-million-in-cancer-trial.html On Wednesday, a California jury ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $29 million to a woman who alleged that asbestos in the company’s talcum-powder-based products caused her mesothelioma. J&J denies allegations that its talc causes cancer, saying numerous studies and tests by regulators worldwide have shown that its talc is safe and asbestos-free. The … Read more

China’s Economy: Not So Big After All. New research suggests that China’s economy is only half the size of America’s—and growing much more slowly than officially reported.

via nationalinterest: New research suggests that China’s economy is only half the size of America’s—and growing much more slowly than officially reported. hina’s economy isn’t what it used to be (at least as recently as last week). Four intrepid economists—Wei Chen, Xilu Chen and Michael Song of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, along with Chang-Tai … Read more

Surprise! Surprise! American Car Payment Delinquencies Set Record

by Dennis Miller Former Fed Chairs, Janet Yellen and Ben Bernanke took great credit for steering the world recovery from the great recession. When something good happens, it’s a result of their masterful strategic planning. Why are they totally surprised when negative news gets reported? The Business Insider headline blared, “A record 7 million Americans have stopped … Read more